He nodded slowly, exhaustion winning over argument. “I trust you.” He said, and for the first time in days, his voice was calm. “Just… don’t forget to breathe.”
We lay down then, letting the blankets swallow us, the firelight flickering across the walls and ceiling. My mind wandered at first, replaying past battles, mistakes, and moments where we’d barely escaped with our lives. But slowly, those thoughts began to fade, replaced with a strange, almost peaceful emptiness.
Sleep came unevenly. I drifted in and out, sometimes waking to the distant echo of footsteps in the castle, sometimes slipping into a deep, dreamless rest. When I woke, the fire had burned low, and the room was bathed in the gray light of dawn seeping through the tall, narrow windows.
Elias stirred beside me, stretching
